Appalachian dulcimer

Alternate name(s)

Fretted zither
Mountain dulcimer

Date1912

Place MadeBath, Kentucky, United States, North America

Modelnone

Serial No.none

SignedHand-written on paper label glued inside lower right sound hole: Manufactured by / J.E. Thomas, July 4, 1912, Bath, Ky.
Markingsnone
DescriptionAccording to dulcimer expert, Ralph Lee Smith, James Edward Thomas (1850-1933) "was Kentucky's great pioneer dulcimer maker. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, he was largely responsible for introducing the world to this beautiful folk instrument of the Appalachians." Thomas began making dulcimers in 1871. One of his latest known instruments, number 1380, is dated January 26, 1927. Researcher Smith notes that "Thomas' legacy is large and important. The 'Kentucky style' dulcimer pattern, with an hour-glass shaped body and heart-shaped soundholes, became the best-known form of the instrument during the post-World War II folk revival. Nowadays, everywhere in the world, when most people think of dulcimers, they think of the beautiful pattern that Thomas developed long ago in Knott and Letcher Counties [of Kentucky]."

Hour-glass shaped
3 strings
body: wooden, box body with top and bottom extending slightly beyond sides; sides tucked into slots cut into end blocks; body expands gradually from pegbox to top bouts, narrows to waist, expands to bottom bouts, and narrows to saddle
pegbox: carved-out, wooden pegbox, closed back; simplified scroll
nut: wooden nut set into groove carved on fretboard-side of joint between fretboard and pegbox; three slits cut into nut as string guides
bridge: stationary, wooden bridge set into groove carved on fretboard; multiple grooves cut (and fractured) into bridge
saddle: metal wire saddle set into edge of wooden fretboard
fretboard: solid wooden fretboard glued to top; depressed portion of fretboard begins after last fret and extends to bridge; fretboard extends to ends of sound box; 17 metal frets extend part way across fretboard, leaving the drone string unfretted
strings: three metal strings; tied around wooden end peg and wrapped at pegs
tuning pegs: three, laterally-inserted, wooden friction pegs - hand-carved, articulated grips
end peg: wooden peg inserted laterally into end block on saddle end
sound holes: four, hand-carved, heart-shaped sound holes; two at each bout, one on each side of fretboard
sound posts: two wooden sound posts - one dowel placed near sound holes at both upper and lower bouts
adornment: incised lines near edge of top and bottom, and on sides of fretboard; distance from fretboard suggests the incised lines were added after completing the construction of the sound box
Dimensionslength: 34.125 in (866.8 mm)
width: 1.25 in (31.8 mm) expanding to 4.75 in (120.7 mm), narrowing to 3.06 in (77.7 mm), expanding to 6.5 in (165.1 mm), narrowing to 1.5 in (38.1 mm)
height: 2.56 in (65 mm)
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Published ReferencesSmith, L. Allen. A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri, 1983, 83.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number01122

On View

Not on view